Red Wings defeat Phoenix Coyotes, keep playoff hopes alive

DETROIT – The Red Wings finally looked like a team fighting for its playoff lives.

Johan Franzen scored twice, Henrik Zetterberg had three assists, and Jimmy Howard posted his fourth shutout of the season en route to a 4-0 victory over Phoenix.

Valtteri Filppula and Damien Brunner added goals for the Red Wings (21-16-8), who have 50 points on the year. Phoenix (19-18-8) saw its playoff hopes evaporate with the loss.

Detroit, which scored three times on the power play, did not move out of ninth place in the Western Conference, but it did move to within one point of Minnesota and Columbus, who currently occupy the seventh and eighth seeds, respectively. With a game in hand on the Wild and two in hand on the Blue Jackets, the Red Wings hold the potential trump card.

For Howard, who made 34 saves, the enormity of Monday’s contest was obvious.

“This was a huge game for us tonight, with where we are in the standings,” Howard said. “We have our work cut out for us. One down, and now three to go. If we go out there and win, we control our own destiny.”

Should Detroit win its last three remaining games, it is guaranteed to extend its 21-season postseason streak. The defending Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings are next up on Thursday.

Detroit’s moribund offensive attack, which had produced three or more goals once in its previous seven games, finally awoke. Coyotes goalie Mike Smith faced just 23 shots, but many were of high quality.

Red Wings fans were treated to a magnificent game from Filppula, who had numerous opportunities to score. Though he buried one, the elusive forward also rang a couple off the post. While frustrated with his bad luck, Filppula kept the overall goal in mind.

“Obviously, we can’t keep losing points,” Filppula said. “It was a good win. Howard played well too. It’s always easier when he doesn’t give up any goals. I should’ve had a couple more today. But we got the win, and that’s what’s important.”

Filppula was the beneficiary of a mesmerizing play by Zetterberg on the third Wings’ goal. The scoring play began in the neutral zone, where Filppula and Zetterberg worked a give-and-go. Zetterberg carried the puck into the Phoenix zone, then slid a pass down to Filppula, who one-timed it in from a very difficult angle near the goal line. Detroit’s third power play goal of the game was Filppula’s eighth of the season, at 16:09.

The rest of the period was a brilliant display of goaltending by both Howard and Smith.

Howard made an initial stop, then was bailed out by rookie defenseman Danny DeKeyser on a sure rebound goal off the stick of Shane Doan eight minutes into the second frame.

Smith was forced to stop breakaways from Brunner and Joakim Andersson. In addition, Smith robbed Filppula on a pair of blasts in close with 1:50 left in the second.

Two power play goals staked Detroit to a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes. Despite being out-shot by a 12-4 margin, the Red Wings went ahead on the scoreboard.

With Antoine Vermette off for holding, the Detroit power play set up deep in the Coyotes zone. Franzen drove the left side of the net hard, and tipped in a Brunner shot from the point. Zetterberg also assisted on the eventual game-winning goal, Franzen’s 11th of the year, at 2:37.

The Wings lit the lamp again with 35.6 seconds left in the first.

Again, Zetterberg was the catalyst. He controlled the puck to the right of Smith. With the goalie clearly anticipating a shot, Zetterberg instead rifled a pass toward Brunner, who was streaking down the right side. The puck found Brunner in stride, and he made no mistake in burying his 12th of the season. Brunner and Franzen now trail team leader Pavel Datsyuk by one in the goal scoring department.

Detroit needed its captain to rise to the occasion, and Zetterberg definitely did so on Monday night. He worked hard at both ends of the ice, and seemed to internalize his team’s pride off the ice.

“Of course, taking over the captaincy, it means a lot to me for this team to do well,” Zetterberg said.

Without some stellar play from Howard, the score might’ve been much closer.

Howard stopped point-blank one-timers from Doan and Radim Vrbata, respectively. Howard also was equal to the task when Keith Yandle found Doan with a brilliant stretch pass. Doan tried a backhander, which Howard deflected with a blocker save.

Franzen sealed the game with an empty net goal, with 1:18 left in the third. Known as a streaky goal scorer, Franzen has been hot of late, scoring five goals in his last five games. His torrid pace will likely be one determining factor in the Red Wings’ ability to reach the postseason.

The win was just the first stepping stone on Detroit’s string of must-win’s to close out the regular season. Head coach Mike Babcock has a clear view of what his team faces, with the Kings, Predators and Stars still on the horizon.

“We can enjoy this for a minute, but all it does is give us another opportunity,” Babcock said.